


I Still Get Butterflies When I See You

by total_theatre_nerd



Series: Buddie one-shots [2]
Category: 9-1-1 (TV)
Genre: Clothes Sharing, Fluff, Getting Together, Love Realisation, M/M, but you don't actually see it, pure fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-14
Updated: 2019-11-14
Packaged: 2021-01-30 21:37:07
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,592
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21435094
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/total_theatre_nerd/pseuds/total_theatre_nerd
Summary: The first time it happened was an accident, really it was. Buck had spilt tomato sauce from the enchiladas all over his white sweater. Christopher had giggled at his clumsiness, and Eddie had fussed.A self-indulgent fic of Buddie wearing each other's clothes.
Relationships: Evan "Buck" Buckley/Eddie Diaz
Series: Buddie one-shots [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1545295
Comments: 53
Kudos: 759





	I Still Get Butterflies When I See You

The first time it happened was an accident, really it was. Buck had spilt tomato sauce from the enchiladas all over his white sweater. Christopher had giggled at his clumsiness, and Eddie had fussed.

“Come on, strip. We can’t let that stain,” he had ordered.

Christopher nodded seriously. “If we get dirty it goes straight into the sink.”

So Buck had peeled the top over his head and handed it to Eddie.

As Eddie went to his room to fetch something for him to wear in the meantime, Christopher let out a hum of intrigue as he spotted the tattoo on Buck’s chest. He’d seen the ones on his arms before, but never this one. By the time Eddie wandered back Chris was sitting in Buck’s lap, tracing the ink with his small hands.

Eddie had thrown the navy t-shirt at Buck and landed a solid hit right on his face. Buck guffawed as he caught it and Chris had chuckled.

“Daddy, look at Buck’s tattoo!” he exclaimed, pointing at it as he twisted round to try and catch his Dad’s eye. Buck’s hand rested protectively on his lower back, ensuring he didn’t fall.

“Yeah I see it bud,” Eddie replied.

Buck, who wasn’t one to get embarrassed by showing some skin, felt a blush start to creep onto his cheeks at Eddie’s intense stare.

“I’m gonna get a tattoo!” Chris shouted as he scrambled down from Buck’s lap.

“You’ve got a couple of years to go before that happens, mijo,” Eddie said with a laugh.

And Buck had pulled the piece of clothing over his head, catching the smell of the laundry detergent that always invaded his nostrils when he was nuzzling into Christopher when they cuddled.

It wasn’t his fault that they all forgot about the sweater that was soaking in bubbles in the sink. So after the movie finished and they’d tucked Christopher into bed, Buck threw on his leather jacket and headed home.

The next time he pulled the navy t-shirt on he’d take a second to try and remember where he got it from, before shrugging and just moving on with his day.

***

Buck was spending more and more time at the Diaz household. He found himself there more often than not these days. He adored Christopher of course, and was happy to help Eddie out, especially since he was trying to rely on his Abuela less. After her accident Eddie was trying to make sure she only had Chris a couple of days a week.

It wasn’t weird now for Buck to finish a shift and drive over, walking into the house to a joyful “Buck!” from Chris and a “Hey Buckaroo,” from Carla, both of them always smiling brightly. It was nice, actually. To end a shift and return home to someone, something other than the silence of an empty apartment and his own thoughts.

Buck dropped the bag he had been carrying on his shoulder and bent down to hug Christopher as he wandered over to him.

“Staying over?” Carla enquired, the raise of her eyebrow and knowing look making something inside Buck squirm, though he couldn’t quite name it.

“Nope,” Buck replied calmly, “Just got some washing to do when I get home.” He had some dirty gym clothes that he’d let collect until he could no longer put it off.

“Well hey, how about I show you how to use Eddie’s and you can do it here? I did notice their hamper is very close to overflowing. That man may be beautiful, but he is not on top of the chores,” Carla said with a laugh.

“I don’t know if I should…” Buck started before Carla cut him off with a dismissive wave and a sound of protest.

“Nonsense! If anything it would be a favour to Eddie.”

And Carla knew how to get him, because Buck would never pass up an opportunity to help Eddie. And she knew that damn well.

So a load had gone on, Buck’s clothes mixed with Eddie’s and Christopher’s. And afterwards, when he was sorting them out and folding them into piles, it wasn’t his fault he was distracted by the bright young boy. It wasn’t his fault that a pair of his sweatpants ended up in the Diaz stack.

Buck didn’t even notice he was short a pair until the next week, when Eddie walked into the gym wearing the dark grey pants, the cuffs trailing slightly on the ground. As soon as Buck noticed the emblazoned logo he realised they were his. Eddie didn’t go for brands, and as he thought about it, he realised he hadn’t seen them since the night he had done the washing at Eddie’s house.

But he didn’t say anything. If anyone had asked, he’d have made up some sort of excuse about not missing them. He’d not say how he liked the way they hung off Eddie’s hips. But nobody noticed, and Eddie kept wearing them regularly. And Buck had to pretend he didn’t notice too.

***

“Buck, we have to be matching,” Christopher said seriously.

Buck stood across from him. “I didn’t bring any other clothes buddy, this is what I’ve got,” he said, gesturing down to the dark jeans and grey shirt pressed with a pattern of squares.

He wasn’t ready for the way Chris’s lip started to wobble, a frown appearing on his face. When he wasn’t smiling Buck felt an instant need to do something to get the beam back on this kid’s face. Since the tsunami Chris had been more subdued than usual, which was understandable. Buck knew he had been having nightmares, which broke his heart because he knew firsthand how awful they could be. Reliving the horrors, imagining worse things happening, terrible things that you couldn’t escape from… Buck never wanted Christopher to experience that. It hurt him to know that despite the efforts he had gone to, shielding Christopher the way he had wasn’t enough. He had lost him for hours. _Hours_. There was no telling what the boy saw as the wave receded, the panic he must have felt at being back in the water.

“Hey Chris, it’s okay,” he said softly, bending down so he was at Christopher’s level. He reached out a hand and clasped his shoulder gently.

“We need to be matching, it’s important.” And gosh, did it look like he was about to burst into tears.

They were meeting Eddie and the others at Bobby and Athena’s after their shift. For some reason Chris had seen the outfit that Eddie had put in his bag to change into, and had decided that they all had to be matching. Buck didn’t know why this mattered so much to him, didn’t know where this need had come from. But he would do anything to prevent Chris from crying. He was truly wrapped around his finger.

So that’s how Buck found himself in one of Eddie’s plaid shirts, his grey one tossed haphazardly on Eddie’s bed.

When they walked into the house there was a round of raised eyebrows, and Eddie had mock-glared at him as he gestured down to his own shirt, which was almost identical except for the extra strip of blue in the pattern.

“Daddy look! We all match now,” Christopher had greeted Eddie with a large smile and enthusiastic walk. He was wearing his own little plaid shirt, and as Eddie bent down to lift him up with a beam that lit up his whole face, Buck admitted that they looked cute together.

“We have got to get a picture of this,” Hen muttered from beside Buck as he watched them, already reaching for her phone.

“Yeah,” Buck agreed, lips curling up as he imagined their joyful expressions being captured in a photo. Those kinds of smiles were rare at the moment, on both the Diaz boys, and Buck would do anything to put them there.

It was a moment before he felt a push to his lower back, and he turned round to look at Hen who was giving him one of her ‘come on man’ looks.

“What?” he exclaimed, lifting his hands in an _I’m innocent_ kind of way.

“Get over there,” she ordered, giving him another shove, harder this time.

Buck planted his feet. “No, this is a family moment.”

“Buck. Look at what you’re wearing,” she gestured down to his top.

“That’s just cause Christopher wanted me to—”

“Save it,” Hen cut him off. Her eyes darted over Buck’s shoulder and she gave a tilt of her head. “Look, your boy’s wanting you.”

Buck spun around, expecting to see Christopher calling for him, but instead seeing Eddie curling his hand in the _come here_ gesture. Buck’s cheek flushed as he thought of Hen saying ‘your boy’ in relation to Eddie, but he crossed the room anyway.

When he joined them Christopher’s delighted laugh immediately swept away any feelings he was grappling with except for joy. Buck gave his hair a quick ruffle and smiled as the little boy slithered away, burrowing deeper into his Dad’s arms. Buck glanced up at Eddie and as he caught his eye knew they were wearing matching grins.

Eddie leant towards Buck, close enough that his breath tickled his ear. “You look good,” he whispered, making Buck’s stomach lurch. He shifted his gaze to the floor as the blush strengthened, his lips curving into a somewhat shy but pleased smile.

“In plaid I mean,” Eddie continued, pulling back slightly so he could meet Buck’s gaze. “You should wear it more often.”

“I don’t think I own any plaid now,” Buck said, mentally scanning through his drawers as he tried to remember.

“Well, keep that one then,” Eddie replied, shrugging his shoulder nonchalantly as he lowered Christopher to the ground.

“You sure?” Buck asked, hands finding their way into his jean pockets as he rocked back and forward onto his heels.

“Yeah Buck, suits you.” And with a pat on the shoulder he was gone, following Chris through the crowd.

Buck’s eyes fluttered closed as he let out a deep breath. He felt his phone vibrate in his pocket, then again, then again. He fished it out and saw the messages were from Hen. He looked around the room until he found her, but she was engaged in conversation and not looking his way. He wondered why she would text him and not just come over to talk.

He unlocked his phone and his heart skipped a beat at the pictures she had sent, with three heart-eye emojis as the caption.

In the first, Buck was ruffling Chris’s hair as he laughed.

In the second, he was staring up at Eddie with a bright smile.

In the third, Eddie’s head was dipped, lips close to his ear. And Buck was staring at the ground with that damn delighted smile and blush on his cheeks, and shit, if it wasn’t obvious before it was now.

Buck hadn’t realised love could be a picture until he was staring at it himself.

When he pulled Hen aside and frantically asked if she had sent Eddie the photos, she just gave him a reassuring squeeze to the arm.

“I only sent him the first one, don’t worry Buck. A love confession should be done in person, not through a photo. Although he’s so damn oblivious I don’t know if he’d even see it.”

“Oblivious?” Buck questioned, eyes searching out Eddie even though the conversation was still going on.

Hen sighed. “You’ve both been crushing on each other since the very beginning and you didn’t even realise.”

Buck spluttered. “Not since the beginning! I was horrible to him, remember?”

Hen just laughed. “You were jealous and not sure what to do with the sudden wants running through you, so you channelled it into something else. We can say it for what it is.”

Buck let out a breath as he reached up to card a hand through his hair. “I love him, Hen,” he said almost breathlessly.

Hen snorted. “The surprise in your voice. Damn Buck, are you really only just realising this now, or are you playing with me?”

She must have seen something in his expression because she gave him a small jab with her elbow. “You’re not playing.” It wasn’t a question.

Buck watched Eddie as his eyes crinkled and head fell back with a laugh at something Chimney had said, hand curled over Christopher’s shoulder as he tucked into some cake he had wasted no time in finding. Buck’s heart was racing, his palms sweaty as he rubbed them on his jeans. It felt like the breath had been knocked out of him. How hadn’t he realised it before? He loved Eddie Diaz, had for a while. And they’d both just been dancing around each other.

He groaned, head falling back to bang against the wall. “I’m a fool,” he said solemnly.

Hen barked out a laugh. “You can say that again Buckaroo.”

“I have to tell him, don’t I?” he asked.

“You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to do Buck. But you should. You love those Diaz boys with your whole heart. You deserve to be happy.”

But Buck had held off, spent the rest of the night acting the same as usual, not showing any signs there had been a fundamental shift inside him. But acting normal made him realise just how touchy he and Eddie were, how their shoulders always bumped together, or they sat with their thighs grazing on the couch. He realised how at ease he was with Christopher, how much the boy sought him out. He realised that when he was with them he felt safe, and not broken. He didn’t feel like he was just a jumble of shattered pieces waiting to be fixed.

The next day Buck caught a glimpse of Eddie’s phone screen as they were heading to a call; their shoulders brushing even though there was more than enough space in the truck to have ample space between them. Buck had almost missed it, but he saw.

Eddie’s lock screen was now the picture from the night before. The one where Buck was ruffling Christopher’s hair, Chris was laughing, and Eddie was smiling down at them with a love-struck look.

Buck smiled to himself, putting just a little more pressure into where their shoulders were joined.

***

They had been running late. Breakfast dishes were thrown into the sink instead of being washed; clothes were shoved into a bag as they basically ran out the door.

Thanks to some miracle they weren’t late to work, Eddie pulled in a few minutes before their shift was due to start. It meant they were rushing to change into their uniforms though, pulling pieces of clothing out the bag that Buck had stuffed their things into, everything mixing together.

Eddie had dressed first, placed a sweet kiss on Buck’s forehead, and backed out the door as Buck was hopping around trying to pull on his shoe.

“Don’t want to be late,” he called out with a smile as he left the locker room.

Buck rolled his eyes as he bent down to tie his laces, a sudden burst of love pumping through him.

By the time he made it upstairs, Bobby, Hen and Chim were sitting at the table, giggling and whispering between themselves like school kids.

“There he is!” Chim exclaimed as soon as he saw him. “Congratulations!”

Buck narrowed his eyes. “Uhh, thanks?” he said, voice titling at the end so it sounded like a question.

“We knew you’d get your act together soon enough,” Hen said as Buck took the seat next to her, clapping him on the back.

“You and Eddie are meant to be, Buck,” Bobby piped up with a soft smile. “I’m glad you two worked things out.”

Buck looked around for his boyfriend, the fact he could call him that now still summoning a smile on his face, and saw him bent over peering into the fridge.

“Hey, Eddie,” he shouted, making Eddie jump. He spun around.

“I thought we were going to tell them together,” Buck said as Eddie crossed the room towards them.

“I didn’t tell them anything,” Eddie replied with a puzzled expression.

Buck scoffed. “Well how do they know then?”

Eddie reached Buck’s side and dropped his hand, intertwining his fingers with Buck’s. “I promise I didn’t say a word.”

Buck looked over at Chim and Hen who were trying to hide snorts of laughter behind their hands, very unsuccessfully. Bobby was sitting at the head of the table with a grin on his face, but he thankfully hadn’t resorted to laughter yet.

“Guys…” Buck whined, eyes narrowing at them.

“How’s it going, Diaz?”

Eddie and Buck both frowned, thrown off by the randomness of the question and the use of his surname. Nobody ever called him that.

“Umm, I’m very good Chim, thanks. But what’s that got to do with anything?” Eddie answered politely.

This made the laughter even more intense, Hen was slapping her knee and looked like she was one joke away from crying from how hard she was laughing.

“I was asking the other Diaz, actually,” Chim said with a smirk.

Buck cocked his head and stared at Chim, before twisting round to look behind him. “Christopher isn’t here?” he said, confusion lacing his voice.

Hen let out squeal of laughter that seemed to surprise everyone, including herself. “Christopher… isn’t… here…” she wheezed between peals of laughter.

Chim was laughing too, and every time he tried to compose himself he looked at the way both Buck and Eddie’s brows were furrowed in such an all-encompassing look of confusion it just started him off again.

Bobby must have taken pity on them, because even though he had a chuckle himself he managed to speak and explain.

“I think he was talking to you Buck,” he said. “I think maybe in your… rush to get dressed you umm…” he paused with a cough “Put on each other’s t-shirts.”

Buck’s head snapped round to look at Eddie who was staring back at him with wide eyes. They both shot up out of their chairs.

“Turn around,” Eddie instructed, and Buck did, trying to peer down to see the name on his back but not being able to twist his neck in a way that he could.

Eddie let out a snort. “Okay yours definitely says Diaz.”

Buck turned and placed a hand on Eddie’s shoulder, manoeuvring him so he could see the back of his shirt. And there it was in big, white letters, trailing across his back. BUCKLEY.

He turned round to look at the others gathered at the table. They had managed to compose themselves slightly and were now only releasing intermittent giggles that they clamped down quickly.

Buck smiled brightly at them and swung his arm around Eddie’s shoulder, thumb resting over the pulse point on his neck.

“So… me and Eddie are dating now,” he said, which set Hen and Chim off once again.

“It’s… it’s really not that funny,” Eddie turned his head to say to him.

“I mean… it’s a hell of a way to announce our relationship,” Buck replied, already preparing himself for the teasing he was going to get from Maddie as soon as Chim told her what had happened.

“Well, the Diaz names suits you,” Eddie whispered, so only Buck could hear. Buck shivered at the words, his heart skipping a beat.

Eddie curled his arm around Buck’s waist and placed a sweet kiss to his temple. It left Buck breathless.

“Okay, this is cute and all, but you really need to be wearing your own clothes on a shift,” Bobby interrupted, eyebrows raised and a serious tone to his voice.

“Right Cap,” Buck said, moving his hand from around Eddie and reaching to hold his hand instead, tugging him towards the stairs.

“We’ll go get changed,” Eddie offered an explanation as Buck pulled him away from the others.

“I’m so happy you guys are finally together,” Hen shouted after them, “But _please_, no sex in the bunks!”

Eddie and Buck both laughed.

“It’s a firehouse rule!” Bobby’s voice floated down to them.

By the time they made it down to the locker room Buck’s cheeks hurt from smiling so much. He reached down and started to pull up his—no, Eddie’s—t-shirt. He smirked at the way Eddie’s gaze focused resolutely on the exposed skin of his stomach.

Buck paused. “Think you’ll be able to control yourself if I’m shirtless? Wouldn’t want to break any rules.”

Eddie snorted and rolled his eyes, but the action was pure fondness. “You’re pretty irresistible but I think I’ll be able to keep my hands off you till tonight.”

Buck loved how their easy teasing hadn’t changed, just morphed into something new and exciting. He had worried that sex would complicate their relationship, would create cracks in their easy camaraderie. But it hadn’t. And Buck decided happiness suited him. He was deliriously in love and he wore it well.

When Buck officially moved into the Diaz house, after months of only being in his own apartment once a week, their wardrobes seemed to combine. There was a baseball top of Buck’s that Eddie seemed to wear more than him; a baby blue sweater that belonged to Eddie but Buck liked to steal because it made his eyes shine brighter. Or maybe it was the love that did that. Who could tell?

**Author's Note:**

> Please just pretend they have the names on the back of their LAFD t-shirts too. 
> 
> I had fun writing this! It was simply to make me happy, but I hope if you've read it that it made you happy too!
> 
> Kudos and comments are very much appreciated and are bound to make my day! So if this made you smile (or even if you hated it) I would really, really appreciate some feedback!
> 
> Thanks for reading!


End file.
